


Trial X6

by J_P_Lupine



Category: Dark Angel (TV)
Genre: Chimeras, Don't copy to another site, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Feral Behavior, Future, Learning How to Human, Manticore (Dark Angel), Post-Apocalypse, Romance, Science Fiction, Splice, Transgenics, anomalies, dense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-08 23:09:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19877605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_P_Lupine/pseuds/J_P_Lupine
Summary: In this Dark Angel Fan-Fiction, a transgenic shows up with Manticore that is very different from the other transgenics. At first, this new chimera is on the hunt for X5-493, but then circumstances change and now the odd transgenic is on the outside with Max, fighting to bring Manticore to its grave. Surviving in the world of man is very different from living in a concrete room at Manticore, can this new transgenic handle it?





	1. Chimera With An Extra Digit Pt.1

A/N: This is a story I did years ago that I never published and I found it again so I thought I'd redo it and post the bitch. Don't worry, the story starts out following Max but eventually changes to the real MC of this story (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)

~

A brunette woman walked into the bustling building made of concrete while having her hands on the handlebars of her bike, looking ahead as she walked so she wouldn't run into anyone. This woman seemed normal enough, nothing special to her besides her unmatched beauty, but she was actually far from normal. The barcode she hid on the back of her neck would prove it.

A man with a headset held a package out to her and told her to deliver it to an address in the fourth sector. The brunette took it just as another woman was coming up to her. She had brown hair, eyes, and skin, a happy smile, was of average height, and greeted the first with her pearly whites showing. Her name was Cindy, but she preferred to be called Original Cindy.

They talked back and forth for a minute before the man with the headset, called Normal, gave them a look and spoke.

"Come on, we've got other packages to deliver. Bip, bip, bip!" He waved them away. They woman holding the bike rolled her eyes and sent a look to Original Cindy. She waved over her shoulder before leaving Jam Pony. Hopping on her bike, she pedaled down the busy street.

Among her peers she was known as Max, to anyone else outside she was just another Jam Pony messenger. Yet, without even given the choice, she was much, much more. She was an escapee, one among twelve, trying to hide from the people from her childhood prison. Max was a result of cocktail DNA from various species of animals, and she was created by a company that went by the name of Manticore. They did such a good job in making her look normal, but it had taken many mistakes for them to finally create their first human looking creation.

Max was strong, fast, smart, and highly trained in combat like the other chimeras Manticore whipped up in their lab. Their goal was to create the perfect soldiers with the use of DNA from other species. Manticore trained the transgenic children like attack dogs from the time they could lift their heads as infants, maybe even sooner.

But now, Max was living a mostly normal life working as a messenger for Jam Pony to make a living....well, with the exception of the occasional robbery she committed and hiding from Manticore while they were hunting her and her metaphorical siblings down. Since she got out of Manticore she'd been looking for the other eleven escaped chimeras. So far she'd only found a handful, but with the assistance of a man named Logan, she may just find them all.

~

"A body showed up at the morgue, a barcode on the back of the neck." Logan opened a file to show a picture. He spoke gently as he explained how the body was discovered, knowing how Max felt about her brothers and sisters that she had been searching for. She went somber the longer she looked at the barcode. She recognized it almost immediately.

"It's Ben." Max said. She then told Logan she would go to the morgue and do what she had to in respects to her fallen brother. But when she arrived, she didn't see the face she was expecting- someone had tattooed Ben's barcode onto a stranger's neck.

Later, another body showed up in the same manner, same barcode, and still the wrong face.

And this, this is where a new life begins to intertwine and mesh with Max. A life that started out not so different from hers, but not the same either.  
It started when she was walking to the nearest church, knowing that's where she'd find the real Ben. Halfway there, though, she had to hide in an alleyway when she heard the all too familiar sound of Manticore trucks coming. Max could feel her heartbeat quicken, but she didn't dare look to see what was going on- she was hoping that they would pass right on by. Max had to slow her breath when the trucks hit their breaks and voices filled the once empty street.

The curiosity in her rose over her fear of Manticore, she had to find out what was going on. It wasn't often when Manticore brought so many trucks and stopped in the middle of a sector. Max climbed the fire escape to a roof with the perfect vantage point so that she could see them but they couldn't see her.

Looking down, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Among the Manticore trucks was a modified one with the back like a giant cage with thick bars and poles sticking out of the sides of it. The people were going back and forth among the trucks while keeping clear of the caged one. After a minute of ant like behavior, the one's carrying guns surrounded the truck with a cage. Six people cautiously went to the side of the truck. With three on each side, four grabbed one of the poles sticking out of the bars on either side.

Looking closer, Max could feel her heart drop. She could now see into the cage- and what the poles were connected to- after shifting on her feet. They had loops on the both ends, looking to be long ACP poles, and she saw another cage inside with a hunched over figure. Max could make out the familiar Manticore garb they issued out to the transgenics, the familiar haircut she had as a child, and a pair of hands bolted to the bottom of the cage.

Then, Lydecker, her equivalent to warden and devil, stepped out of the truck in the back and walked calmly to the cage. Tilting her head slightly to hear, Max heard his voice speak with authority as he pulled something from his pocket.

"This is your target. Track him down and brings him to the rendezvous point. He is to stay alive, do you understand me? This target is not to be killed." He held out what looked like a piece of fabric towards the cage. The figure inside raised its head in the ever so slightest way and the four people holding the ACP poles tensed. "If you stray from the mission, your tracker will explode; try to take it off, and it will explode." He waved a hand and the two people not holding on to anything pushed a button on either side of the truck. The bigger cage opened outward in two double, barred doors.

The poles were slowly slid off the figure's neck one by one after given a signal from Lydecker. Lydecker took a step closer to the truck, and Max held her breath. The buttons on the truck were pushed again and the metal holding the chimera's hands were released. The Manticore creation didn't move. When Lydecker was right in front of the smaller cage, the soldiers trained their guns to the back of the truck.

"This is the barcode." The smaller cage then opened and the figure slowly crawled out, standing before Lydecker with its head down. Max could see the barcode, but it was a series of numbers she had never seen before and it had an extra digit. Manticore only used twelve digits, they always had, so why was this one different? "Now, get me that X5." Lydecker stepped to the side, watching the transgenic.

At first, nothing happened. But the second a bird cawed in the dead silence, the figure dropped to all fours and ran into an alley. The last Max saw of it made her blood run icy cold and her heart to stop. They had let loose a monster to find Ben.

They had let loose an **_Anomaly_**.

~

Max waited impatiently in the church, sitting in a pew without moving an inch after finding the teeth offered to the Blue Lady. Night came and went, and people passed her while hardly taking so much as a second to even acknowledge her presence. 

She felt her heart soar when she saw Ben finally walking towards the statue of the Blue Lady. Max was happy to see one of her brothers alive and well. Standing up, she went to him. As Max spoke to Ben, she slowly lost her previous happiness. There was something wrong with him- something very wrong. Max panicked when he started to run away and she shouted while going after him.

"Ben! Don't go! Manticore's here for you!"

"Like they could get me!" He shouted back with a smirk as he ran from her.

"They have an Anomaly hunting you!" She tried to get Ben to listen, but he was much faster, making it to where she was pretty much just yelling at the wind.


	2. Chimera With An Extra Digit Pt.2

Max searched the woods, hoping to find Ben before the Anomaly did. She even went to the extent of going back to the rock where the bodies had shown up, thinking he may have returned to that very spot. She walked quietly, listening for anything while looking for a sign but came up with nothing until she got to the crime scene. Again, her blood ran cold.

Standing on the rock with its back facing her, Max saw the Anomaly. Its grey Manticore issued clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains, and a short bobcat-like tail swayed as it peaked out of the bottom of its shirt. Her muscles froze with her childhood fear of the beasts in the basement. She glanced away briefly to find a way to leave unnoticed, but when she looked back, the Anomaly was staring straight at her.

Max took in a sharp breath, knowing what would happen if she ran now. The Anomaly didn't move a muscle while staring back at Max. It's honey colored eyes looked at every inch of Max, seeming to study the brunette and Max did the same to the Anomaly. She looked at the military buzz haircut given to the apparent female redhead, looked at her dark spot like freckles, saw her pointed ears covered in burnt orange and rust colored fur with black tips, the long, claw like nails, and saw the woman's nose twitch.

Her honey colored eyes narrowed a fraction, her slightly upturned nose twitched again. Max blinked and the Anomaly was gone, as if it hadn't ever even been there.

~

The next time Max saw the Anomaly was when she was cradling Ben in her lap as Manticore was slowly closing in. His leg was broken, and he was begging for Max to not let Manticore get him.

"Tell me about the Happy Place." Max told Ben as he looked up at her. He smiled, but before he could say a single word they felt eyes on them. Looking up at the same time, the two X5's froze at the dirty figure before them.

"Anomaly!" Ben took in a sharp breath with shock and his eyes widened in fear as he stared at the woman's blank expression. There was a quiet spell before the Anomaly stepped closer.

"Stay back!" Max growled while protectively covering Ben. The woman didn't listen and kept coming closer. Just as Max was trying to get Ben out of reach of the Anomaly, it crouched down next to him and just stared. Its nose twitched.

"What's....happy place?" Its voice was quiet, comparable to a whisper in a breeze through trees as it also sounded raspy as if it barely ever used the human voice it possessed. "Is it....real?"

"Yes, it's real." Max sighed and gave a soft smile, her nerves were beginning to slowly relax. For some reason, she didn't feel scared of the Anomaly like last time, seeing a familiar curiosity in those honey eyes. Instead, she felt the same urge to connect like she did with her missing brothers and sisters. "Tell us about it, Ben." Max soothed the man in her lap.

He frighteningly looked from both women, and didn't speak until the Anomaly placed it's hands onto the ground and sat like a dog. When Ben was smiling as he talked, Max snapped his neck, giving him a quick death so he would die still happy as he thought of the Happy Place.

"Why did you do that?" The voice was so quiet.

"He doesn't want to go back to Manticore." Then Max broke, sobbing and wailing over Ben while the Anomaly sat there and watched with a blank face.

She watched even when Max finally had no choice but to go as Manticore closed in. And the whole time she walked away, Max felt the eyes, but when she gave one glance back, the Anomaly was hovering over Ben's lifeless body. Her face inches from his as her eyes seemed to soften.

"Goodnight, X5-493." The Anomaly said lowly.


	3. Anomaly

Months passed after Ben's death and Max was now ready to storm Manticore with a few of her siblings. Logan and Lydecker where working at the computers while her and her fellow transgenics prepped weapons and talked about the time they missed together.

Just when Zach was talking about the missing siblings, the front door was kicked in off the hinges and it flew across the room. The X5's went on alert, grabbing guns and quickly aiming towards the door. A grey clad woman came in.

"1031! What are you doing here?" Lydecker looked hard as the Anomaly walked into the building.

"Target has been located." Her quiet voice came up as she stared directly at Max.

"What?" Lydecker saw where she was looking and took a step forward. "1031, you are not to target any of these X5's!" He spoke in an authoritative tone.

"I don't take orders from you." The Anomaly continued to walk.

"Stay where you are or I'll shoot!" Zach raised his voice while looking fiercely at the chimera in front of them. She stopped.

"Look, you don't have to do this." Max said. "You have a choice, you don't have to follow their orders." Max tried to persuade the transgenic.

"No, I don't." She pulled the collar of her shirt down to reveal a little red light blinking on a black box stuck to her sternum. "My orders were to take the target back alive, so, come with me or I kill everyone here and take you by force." The blankness of her face showed nothing. She was unreadable, even her eyes were void of anything but the honey colored pigmentation. It was like looking at the face of a snake as it stared back.

"I'll deactivate it." Lydecker broke the silence that had followed the Anomaly's declaration. Her eyes went away from Max and to him. "Only if you help us and forget your mission."

"...."

"I put the tracker there, I can easily take it off." Lydecker tried to coax her into agreeing.

"....And Max has to tell me about the Happy Place again...."

"Happy place?"

"Deal." Max cut in while letting out a breath as she felt her body relax. The guns were still pointed at the Anomaly, but she moved towards Lydecker now.

"Who issued you this mission, 1031?" He asked while taking her to the table where the guns were. Max moved them off, and took the guns from her brothers and sister since they were still aimed.

"A woman."

"A woman? Who? What was her name?" Lydecker asked while grabbing tools and setting them on the table. He pat the surface and the Anomaly sat on it. "Lay down."

"She ordered me to address her as Ma'am. She kept everything else about her identity private besides her face. Everyone takes orders from her now." She said while laying down. Lydecker gave a nod and unscrewed the covering to the little black box on the woman's chest. There was a small amount of C4 right next to the blinking light.

"If I deactivate it here, they'll know where we are. I'm going to have to delay the signal long enough for me to take it off. They'll think it's just a glitch when it comes back on." Lydecker explained as he messed around in the box. Max came up and stood next to the chimera laying on the table. "I'm going to have to rip it off. The delay won't give me enough time to just take it off." He looked at the Anomaly.

"I'll dispose of it once it's removed." Her quiet voice was the only noise in the silence. Lydecker kept working, tweaking in the tracker for another few minutes before it beeped. The light went off and Lydecker looked at Max.  
"Rip it off! Hurry!" Max looked at him, then to the Anomaly. Her snake expression was facing the ceiling, Max grabbed the device and pulled. 1031 didn't even flinch as her skin was pulled off with the tracker and her blood took a second before it started to well out of the square shaped dent in her chest.

It beeped again in Max's hand and Lydecker took it from her. Putting the cover back on, he handed it to the chimera sitting up on the table. One second she was there, the next, she was gone.

"Why didn't we just kill her? She's an Anomaly!" Zach was the first to speak up.

"Zach! She's just like us." Max looked at him while defending the red haired woman.

"No, she's not. And I'm not going to let any of you kill her." Lydecker said with a firm tone as he looked at each of them.

"What do you men she's not? She looks just like us, besides the obvious" Max crossed her arms.

"1031's genetic makeup is very different from every one of yours. Yes, she may share some of the same species of animals with a few of you, but I spliced in DNA from extinct species as well with her."

"What do you mean by 'spliced with extinct species'?" Logan narrowed his eyes as he spoke up, and Lydecker sighed as he sat down.

"It was after the group of X5's escaped that I thought of it. I got the idea to use extinct predators as well as current ones to try and use it to find X5's as well as making it superior to even all my other kids."

"She looks too old for her to have been made after us."

"I added in DNA from a Labord's chameleon and a Lufengosaurus to enhance her growth rate."

"That must be where she gets that blank face."

"No, that mostly came from a coral snake." Lydecker corrected.

"Why does she look mammal if all that you've listed so far has been reptiles?" Zach asked.

"She has more mammal DNA, that's why, and I wasn't done explaining." Lydecker turned to Logan. "I was only given a certain amount of funding, and most of it went to get the extinct genetic material. I didn't have enough funding to make another one, so she's the only one like herself. She also has velociraptor DNA, dire wolf, and a few others." He paused, looking like he was thinking. "But I think the one I'm most proud of obtaining was the Red Panda." Lydecker somewhat smiled. "Took a lot to get it, but it was very useful." He didn't say how.

"You put raptor DNA in her?" Logan had his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, I did. It makes her listen to orders from a higher rank."

"Just like how she just ditched Manticore?" Max leaned on one foot, her arms still crossed.

"I was originally the higher rank she took orders from. From what I know, no one else has _really_ replaced me yet."

"What about her being an Anomaly? You know how to properly make chimeras without the extra bits." Max asked.

"Her surrogate enhanced her animal DNA- I'm just glad it was only the few things that showed up. She could of had fur or scales or even feathers."

"How did a surrogate do that? I thought they were all normal humans."

"Not 1031's. Her surrogate was a tiger. Since she was different, why shouldn't her surrogate be as well, right?" Lydecker gave a weak smile while shaking his head slowly.

"Wait, hold on." Zach had confusion written all over his face. "If her surrogate was a tiger, who was used to get the human DNA?"

"The human DNA came from a fighter after having a heart attack while training some of my other children." Silence fell now as everyone quietly looked at each other, letting this new information sink in. 1031 was different. She wasn't even born from a human, and everything in her was a natural killing machine or built to survive in dangerous environments. The only similarity so far was the reason of her creation. A superior, perfect soldier.

Twenty minutes later, 1031 was back, and her grey shirt was stained red in the front.

"I left it in a sector over 24 clicks from here." She said while blankly staring at them.

"Come here, let's get you bandaged up, shall we?" Max smiled while gesturing at the Anomaly. She walked over to the dark haired woman.

"Tell me about the Happy Place." She said while lifting her shirt so Max could doctor her wound. Max talked while cleaning the wound and putting a bandage over it.

~

A few days later, the night had come that the group of X5's and two humans would destroy Manticore once and for all. People were given their roles to play in the mission, and they could feel the anticipation buzzing in the air. Lydecker was enjoying himself, finally getting to see his kids do what they were made to do. No one could hide their excitement, it shown plain on their faces- except for 1031. She just sat in a chair with a blank expression the whole time.

When they got to Manticore though, her face went dark. Literally. Around her eyes turned black and her freckles turned black as well, having little red spots in the center of them. When the stares and silence became obvious, Lydecker gave a brief explanation. 

"The chameleon DNA only alters certain areas of pigmentation when 1031 has extreme emotional changes...." He paused and looked at 1031. "but it only turns black when she's hunting prey." Many of the people in the van shifted in their seats upon hearing that fact.

During infiltration, Max talked to 1031. When they were setting up the C4 in the DNA lab, the dark haired woman smiled at the Anomaly.

"You still don't have a name yet, do you?" She was answered by a slight shake of the head. "Mind if I give you one?" Another shake of the head. "Well, you don't do much besides hunt....and you don't eat much other than meat.... But I can't call you Meat, it's too weird, and Hunter is a boy's name...." Max was searching her brain for possible names.

"How about Shadow since she follows you like one." Zach popped off while setting up the explosives.

"Ha ha, very funny." Max said with sarcasm in her voice.

"I like it." 1031's quiet voice sent the two other chimeras into silence. It was weird how quiet usually followed her own quiet voice.

"Well, you don't say much, you're sneaky, and silent, so I guess it suits you well." Max smiled again before they had to leave in a hurry, ready to get out and let the room of DNA and barcode labels to blow up.

Unexpectedly, the alarm was raised and Manticore took action against its infiltrators. Max went back to get Brin, Zach went to get out, and 1031, now Shadow, was already outside and waiting patiently for Max to return. She stood in a tree near the outskirts of the forest to get a good vantage point of the running bodies and flashing guns. Her face slowly lightened in color the longer she was out of Manticore, and her blank face constantly scanned the surrounding area for Max. When the C4 detonated and Max was still not in sight, Shadow began to search for her in the woods, hoping she might have overlooked Max's escape. When she found a clearing that held Max's scent the strongest, Shadow stared blankly as Lydecker was dragging Logan away from a limp body. Shadow knew what the situation was, she had smelled transgenic blood coming from the clearing. She just thought it was another transgenic.

Leaving Max was harder than Shadow expected it to be. Usually, a fallen fellow chimera didn't even cause her to bat an eye. But Max? Max was different. Shadow felt weird when she saw the dark haired woman's body laying on the ground. She felt....rage.

"1031! Come on, we have to leave! Now!" Lydecker shouted at the animal eared woman. Her blank face slowly looked up at the human. She walked to the van and got in without saying a single word.


	4. Hiding Among Humans

**Seattle, Washington- 2020**

"Shadow! I need you to come here for a second." Logan's voice echoed through the apartment. There was a silent pause as he waited for a reply. "Shadow?"

"What?" I grumbled while getting up off the couch.

"If you're going to come in, do you mind doing so more discreetly? You broke my window. Again." I stood behind him in the hallway.

"I was discreet. You didn't notice me until now." I crossed my arms while talking. Since Max left and Manticore blew up, Logan's hair had gotten long and his face had grown scruffy. He mostly just moped around, but he still continued to do the Eyes Only broadcasts.

"Oh, don't give me that look!" Logan rolled his eyes. Setting a hand on one hip, he pointed with the other hand. "Clean it up."

"Whatever, old man." I made my face into a snarl and walked past him and to the kitchen.

"Oh! I didn't know you had a guest, Logan." A woman's voice brought my head up. A short haired blonde was standing just outside of the elevator, a bag slung over one shoulder as it rested on the opposite hip.

"Um.... She's my cousin." Logan quickly came up with a passable excuse for my presence.

"And I was just leaving." I shoved my hands into my pockets while going towards the elevator. She looked at me as I passed her, her eyes widened as she looked at the honey color of my eyes. When the light hits them just right they reflected like a nocturnal creature's. Maybe she saw the reflection?

I stood in the elevator, and just as the doors were closing I heard Logan let out a sigh.

Outside on the streets, I let all emotion leave my face. Truly, I never showed emotion because of my reptilian DNA, but with Logan I had to do _something_. He would constantly say how he felt weird when he saw my blank stares and vacant expressions, like he was being watched by a snake. So, to quell his primal fear of predators, I mimicked things I saw off the streets. I chose to imitate the people that showed the most emotion and so far it was working. But he'd always tell me to stop acting like a teenager....like I even know what that is....

Normal humans were interesting to say in the least, though. Watching them from time to time, studying their mannerisms and behaviors, I could see how they evolved from primates. They acted like it.

Yet, so far, there was one human I really enjoyed watching. She tended to talk in third person- like she was a narrator.

I had just stumbled upon her when I was looking for Max's den after the Manticore incident, and she piqued my interest from the very beginning. She walked in on me rummaging through the refrigerator two weeks after Lydecker drove the survivors back to the warehouse. She saw my clothes, my haircut, and my barcode, and she just knew. She knew all about Manticore and about what they did- Max must have told her. But after she saw the back of my neck, she smacked my hands away from the refrigerator and made me a meal.

She called herself Original Cindy, I don't know why, but now I always dropped by near the end of the day and she'd make me dinner. She'd offered to let me stay with her many times, but I simply couldn't. It was Max's territory. So, to waste my time when I wasn't checking Logan's security or eating with Original Cindy, I just roamed the streets. Or worked. Speaking of which-when was my next shift?

~

"Sorry I'm late, Sir." I said to my boss when he raised his hands, non-verbally asking for the reason I was tardy, or at least a good excuse as to why. After a second of my blank stare, he just dropped his head and shook it.

"Don't be late again." He went back into his office to do whatever it is these normal people do in an office. I clocked in and went to the lockers. Pulling out a dark blue jumpsuit, rubber, steel-toed boots, and a hardhat, I got ready for work.

I got a job working at a meat factory. There was little to do since meat had gone scarce after something called the Pulse, but the rich and high powered still wanted it. My job was to bring in the animals and slaughter them, then send them to be gutted and cleaned.

It had a high pay, and the only reason I was able to get in was due to the fact the last person in my position got trampled and eaten by some hungry pigs. The perk to working here, besides the money that I hardly even used, was that every worker was able to take home a chicken every week. Dead or alive, up to the employee.

I always took mine alive because for a week I'd eat eggs for breakfast and lunch, then on Fridays I'd take the old chicken to Original Cindy's and we'd eat it for dinner. It was a good cycle, and it was efficient since my cravings for meat needed to be met. Eggs didn't really satisfy me, but it held me over until Friday came.

Today, we got a shipment of pigs and a batch of fresh roosters were ready to be sent off for some rich family's dinner.

No one here really knew me, nor did they know about my extra furry parts. I always wore a beanie to cover my ears, and my tail was hidden in my pants and the jumpsuit. I only had to constantly clip my nails and file my teeth to completely fit in. To tell the truth I'm sure Logan even forgot I'm not human sometimes.

"Yo, Shay!" A coworker called out to me. I looked at them as an answer. "We, uh....lost a pig...." The man rubbed the back of his neck. I was already up to my elbows in pig's blood, and now I get to hunt another one down. This was the true second perk to my job. Occasionally, an animal or two would go missing from the shipment, being loose somewhere in the building and I got to hunt them down. I'd been asked to do it ever since it first happened after I started working here and found the missing meal on legs.

Putting my knife on the butchering block, I raised my head. The air was thick with blood and fear. The building echoed with animal screams as they were herded to different areas of the warehouse. The man who had come to get me crossed his arms.

"It's kind of freaky how you do this." He gave a short hesitant laugh. I gave him a brief glance and put my nose in the air. I'd have to find the scent that was moving the most and wasn't human or chicken.

I walked away and went to hunt down the pig. It could not escape its destiny to have my blade cut through its neck.

Not but five minutes later, I had it cornered in the back of the factory. Its back was to the corner between two walls, its eyes wide as its nostrils flared. The pig could smell the blood of its brethren on me, and the longer I stared at the pig's pink flesh I began to drool.

The only thing I missed from Manticore was the food. They'd let loose various animals into my pin, letting me hunt them down before I ate them.

I took a step forward, the pig squealed and tried pushing back against the wall, knowing what kind of predator I was. I wanted the pig for myself, claim I couldn't find it, but I knew better. Lying to a superior was a grave offense. It was rewarded by a week without food and a red laser in my eye as they played videos. Though, I had yet to see the laser here like at Manticore.

"Nice work, Shay." A coworker came up next to me, patting my shoulder.

"It's Shadow." I spoke quietly, turning away to get back to work.

"Whatcha' doing? Aren't you gonna take the pig, too?" I glanced back a second, then closed in quickly on the pig. Snapping its neck, it fell to the floor with a thud. Grabbing the front hooves, I drug it to the butchering block and slit the throat to let it bled out. everyone always gave me weird looks. but today's looks were even weirder.

~

Tonight was chicken dinner night. I knocked on Original Cindy's door, holding the portable pen the hen was in. She clucked a few times, but she was calm since I had gained her trust. (She never saw me eat her eggs, and I told her that they had gone to a safe place.) The door opened and I looked up to hand Original Cindy the hen.

I instead dropped the pen and the hen clucked up a storm and her feathers fluttered. My ears twitched under my hat as I stared at the face that didn't belong to Max's human friend.

"What? Are you not going to come in?" A familiar smile.

"....Max...." I mumbled while she bent down and picked up the chicken.

"The one and only." She waved me into her den. "Where'd you score this?"

"Didn't I tell you? Little miss got a job working at the meat factory. She gets a chicken every Friday." Original Cindy smiled while pulling a pot out and filling it with water.

"No, you didn't. This is a good thing, now we get meat every week!" Max was grinning from ear to ear while setting the chicken onto the counter. I slowly walked past the doorway and couldn't look away from Max.

"How are you alive? The bullet went through your heart...." I mumbled just before closing the door.

"I got a transplant." And that was all Max would say about it. Original Cindy got to work on making dinner, plucking the feathers off the chicken after boiling it. While eating, Max told me how she had Manticore shut down for good after getting blown up.

"What happened to the other transgenics?"

"Most of them got out, but a few didn't make it." She gave a sad look and went on with her story. Apparently, Manticore gave her this virus that attacks only Logan's genetic makeup, tried to breed her with another X5, and tried making her forget her own name. She even met other Anomalies while she was finding a way to escape, and the one she talked most about was one named Joshua. He told Max that he was the first, that he was special, and Max said he was really tall and acted like a puppy.

When the food was gone and the story was over, I left and went to a place I usually bunked down for the night. It was an abandoned house on the outskirts of the sector, but it was good enough for the chicken and it was good enough for me. I didn't worry about heat or electricity, I could see in the dark and my own body temperature could charge a small generator. But I did fix the pipes and hooked the building up a waterline, allowing me to take showers and water the chicken. For chicken feed, I'd buy raw corn kernels and catch small bugs to give my hens.

As the night grew older, I crawled into my bed of flattened boxes, old fabric, and a sleeping bag on top. The occasional clucks from the chicken faded as I went to sleep.


	5. Free Mutants

On my way to work, the phone in my pocket began to vibrate. Logan had given it to me in case there was an emergency and he needed to contact me. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered the call by pushing the green phone button.

"Shadow?"

"What is it, Logan?" I turned the corner into an alleyway just as a drone flew over the street.

"You should come over, Max needs your help and we have a lead on the other transgenics." I kept walking as I listened. Why did he think I cared about other chimeras? I've never seen them, nor have I been programmed to have connections with them. Manticore drilled me on what to do with escaped X-series, and I got out of that. Now, Max and Logan want me to do it again?

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there in five minutes." I hung up the phone and turned right towards Logan's den. 'Why am I going?' I thought to myself. 'Because Max needs your help. That X5 pretty much has you wrapped around her finger already.' I answered myself mentally while rolling my eyes. Maybe my raptor DNA is what's making me loyal to her? She does have that alpha vibe.... Maybe all my pack animals sees her as the alpha? I mean, my dire wolf would be loyal as well....

"Some of them are screwed up, they don't look like you or me or anything anyone's ever seen before." Max's voice told me where she was in the penthouse. "I'm responsible for them just the same." I saw her coming my way just as Logan was reaching for her while I waited by the elevator.

"Hey!" Logan said in a quick tone.

"Careful!" Max told him while raising her hands and avoiding his touch.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." I could see the tenseness and stress between the two of them. When Max saw me, she gave a forced smile.

"Hey, Shadow." I gave a short nod, and we were both going down the elevator.

I'd never been on a motorcycle before, but so far I was actually enjoying it. Max was silent, and she had already briefed me on the situation when we were leaving Logan's den. The trees and plants passed by in a green and brown blur as she raced down the road. She was trying to get to the rendezvous point before any more transgenics were killed.

Suddenly, a bridge came into view followed by trucks and people. Max gave a sharp turn while hitting the brakes, nearly going parallel with the ground and took out a few of the men.

"Run!" She shouted. The other men began to shoot, catching one transgenic in the leg. I leapt off the bike while Max reached down to pick the fallen kid up.

"I'll meet back up with you later." I shouted to Max as she slung the kid behind her and drove off. The bullets kept missing them and I jumped off the bridge so I wouldn't get shot either. Running into the woods, I followed Max's scent. The forest was so quiet- the gunshots must have scared off the birds and put the other creatures into hiding....

Avoiding the roads and paths, I kept going until I reached an abandoned looking barn. Before entering the clearing, I checked my surroundings. Waiting a moment to listen, I heard Max's voice, making my ear twitch. Without a further delay, I ran to the barn and stopped at the sight of multiple transgenics in camo and grey.

"All right people," Max spoke up. "fall in. There has been a change in your mission status." She addressed a group of young soldiers. Standing just to the side of the entrance I had used, I watched as she talked to them. She even started giving them names. Zero, Fix-it, Ralph, Bullet, and Bugler. There was another person behind a wooden beam, asking about a name for the transgenic standing by a window.

"I'll leave that to you since you two seem to be getting along so well." And as she left, I saw a piece of popcorn get tossed at the dark eyed boy.

Taking a slow breath, I crouched down and began to get closer. When I was right behind the wooden beam, the young chimera glanced at me while being hit with popcorn. His dark eyes and vacant stare gave me a sense that I was standing near a small, but vicious creature. Even though I had no reason to fear him, I knew he could do damage to Max and that made me want to growl.

He wouldn't stop staring at me, and when the transgenic behind the beam noticed, he turned back to look.

"Ben?" I tilted my head slightly. No, I saw that X5 die. This must be a clone....

"No, Alec. And who the Hell are you?"

"Shadow!" Max's voice caught my attention and she waved me over with a smile. "Glad you're here. I need to ask a favor from you."

"What is it?"

"Can you help me find some blankets? I think we're going to have to sleep here tonight."

"Sure."

As darkness fell and each young soldier drifted off to sleep, I went to stand next to the dark-eyed transgenic that spoke on an ultrasonic wavelength. Max kept checking up on the young soldiers, making sure they were sleeping okay, and I was watching the boy in front of me.

He glanced at Max for a second, then back out the window. I didn't take my eyes off him- he gave me the feeling that he meant harm to the others, including Max, and I wasn't going to let that happen.

The next morning, the young soldiers kept looking at me, wondering when I had arrived. I payed no attention to them since I had my eyes on the dark-eyed one. I knew he was up to something. Last night I had seen his vacant face give a smile. Now, this smile wasn't from happiness, it was like that of someone plotting something and victory was inevitable.

"Okay, Zero, hit it!" I heard a girl say, and right after, the engine of an old car started up. But just before the vehicle started, my ears twitched. 'No.....'

"Max! There's soldiers outside!" One soldier shouted.

"Get away from the windows! You, too!" Max yelled at the young soldiers as she ran into the room. Just as Max realized how the soldiers got here, she grabbed the dark-eyed boy and pulled him from the window. "Fix-it! We gotta go now!" Max herded the young chimeras towards the car being fixed. Just as I was about to follow, a smoke bomb flew past my face and began to fill the barn with smoke. I dropped down close to the floor and took off my hat before shoving it into my pocket. My ears swiveled back and forth, listening. Reaching behind me, I pulled my tail out from under my belt and began to sniff the air. The smoke was covering most of the scents in the barn, but the smell of fear coming from the kids was too thick to coat.

I heard soldiers rush into the barn and I began to move towards them. Grabbing one's legs, I drug him down and into the smoke. Guns began to fire in all directions at any part of smoke that seemed darker then the rest. I could hear Max fighting the other soldiers while dodging their fire.

The man I had pulled down began to struggle and I dropped my head low enough for him to see me through the gas mask. Feeling my teeth sharpen, I opened my jaws wide and gave a prehistoric roar. My drool dripped onto his mask and he began to scream. To shut him up, I knocked him out with a punch. I drug other soldiers down while Max fought and the young soldiers were escaping. When things got too quiet, I felt my heart quicken- Max was down.

Leaping at the men closing in on her, I roared and crashed down on one of the soldiers. Knocking him out, I kicked out at the masked men. Withing seconds, tasers covered my back and I was out.

~

I woke up in a cage when someone was banging on its side. Sitting up, I looked directly ahead of me at a man with short dark hair in a suit. There were soldiers all around, a few other people in suits, and one guy in a lab coat.

"What am I looking at here?" The man standing in front of me asked the one in the lab coat.

"This is one of Lydecker's personal creations. 1031 was made for hunting down other transgenics."

"Why would Lydecker make something that hunts its own kind?" The man tilted his head down and tilted it to the side while looking at me.

"It was after the X5's escaped, sir. She has been deployed on various missions since and has retrieved various transgenics that have escaped Manticore."

"Until she escaped herself. Why is she still alive?"

"If you just let me reprogram her, she could make our jobs a lot easier, sir. Plus, she's almost as important as 452."

"And what makes you say that?" The man looked to the one in the lab coat.

"According to some files that made it out of Manticore, 1031 is the only one of her kind and has various extinct species of animals mixed into her DNA. Including dinosaurs, sir."

"Dinosaurs?" The dark haired man raised his eyebrows. "Lydecker has seen Jurassic Park a few too many times." He shook his head. "Get rid of her." He said while turning around.

"But, sir! With all due respect, just think of the sort of asset she'll be! In the time she has been here alone, she has shown an accelerated cell growth rate." The man turned back.

"How so?"

"When she was brought in, she had flat teeth and fingernails. She must have filed them down, but now that she's been here, look." He pointed to my hands.

"I see, and the teeth?"

"1031, open your mouth." The lab coat looked at me and I gave a blank stare back. "1031?" I stood up and grabbed the front of the cage.

"I'll show you my teeth when I bite out your eyeballs." My voice was flat and monotone as I spoke. The man narrowed his eyes.

"Fine, she can live....as long as she proves useful."

Night fell and I had yet to see another face since those people that came hours earlier. I could only hear the voices of people as they passed by outside, as well as vehicles driving around.

Suddenly, the power went out and I stood up and grabbed the cage, ready to break out. If I was going to escape, now would be a better time than any other. Pulling the doors apart, the metal bent under my grip and I was free. Gunshots rang out and I ran out of the tent. Keeping low and staying quiet, I managed to escape.

Daylight came fast as I was running through the forest. I had lost my shoes a few miles back, and I had already slipped past a few sector checkpoint fences. My clothes were covered in dirt and my feet and hands were, too. I was bounding past trees and rocks, jumping fences and shrubbery, trying to find a way out. No, I was not lost, but I was looking for the right sector. Max's sector.

When I actually found Max, she was at home with Original Cindy. I slipped in through the window and overheard a bit of their conversation before Max noticed me.

"I don't know, O.C. The kids said she didn't go with them, and no one saw her at the- Shadow!" Max smiled. I slid down off the windowsill and stood there quietly. "Ew, you smell." Max cringed and took a step back.

"When I ran out of woods for cover, I had to take the sewers." I explained.

"Geez, come on, let's get you into a bath!" Original Cindy started filling pots up with water.


	6. Joshua- Big Fella

"Hey, Shadow?"

"What?" I switched my phone to the opposite ear and held it there with my shoulder while I worked to fix the chicken pen.

"I could use your help...." I stopped what I was doing to hold the phone with my hand instead.

"What do you need, Max?"

"I found another transgenic, I need you to watch him for me. Just until I get everything settled and fixed for him to be on his own."

"Sure, where are you at?"

~

I knocked on the door to the large house and I heard pounding footsteps. There was loud barking and Max's voice telling a dog named Joshua to be quiet. She opened the door and I saw that it wasn't a dog that had been barking, it had been the transgenic Max had talked about over the phone.

"Joshua, this is Shadow. Shadow, this is Joshua."

"Hello, Shadow." The transgenic was extremely tall and had a face like a dog. His hair was long and shaggy, his clothes quite dirty, and he had an innocent smile. He held his hand out to me. Taking it, he shook my hand.

"Thank you so much, Shadow." Max said. "I'll be right back, I promise." Then Max was gone.

"Joshua.... Are you the one that helped Max escape?" I asked while remembering the name.

"Yes." He grinned and nodded. "Joshua special. The first."

"The first what?" I stood by the door while looking up at him.

"The first. Father made me first."

"Father?" I kept my blank stare while looking at him, and he didn't even seem to notice.

"Sandeman." Then he went into the living room and I followed. The floor was covered with books, papers, shelves, and other things like whoever lived here last left just before tossing everything to the floor.

I took a seat in a chair and just watched Joshua. He started to pile things up based on what they were. I think he was starting to clean the house....

When Max finally came back, the house was pretty much spotless and Joshua was just sitting and reading in a chair by the fireplace.

"I like what you've done with the place." She said. Joshua agreed, saying he like'd it there with 'father's' books.

"I have to get to work now. Call me if you need anything else, Max." I said while standing up and going to the door.

"Okay. Thanks again for watching Joshua." Max smiled at me and gave a nod.


	7. Halloween Is Here

Walking into the place Max worked, I felt the urge to turn back around. Why? Nearly everyone I'd seen so far was dressed like some sort of monster. I needed to know what was going on, so I went to find Max.

As I was walking down the concrete incline, I went past a man on a bike wearing a cape and pale makeup, then a man with a headset. I saw Original Cindy, and she was saying something about it being Halloween. She saw me next to the guy with the headset and smiled.

"Hey, girl! Watchu doin' here?"

"I'm looking for Max."

"Shadow!" I saw Max grinning at me. "Hey, did you need something?"

"Yeah.... I had a question." I saw some people mouthing my name to each other while making faces.

"Shoot." Max crossed her arms.

"Why is there so many people dressed up as monsters and clowns?" The whole place went quiet as they looked at me. The guy on the bike rolled up next to me while looking down.

"It's Halloween."

"What's....Halloween?" He glanced from Max to me and back.

"Is she serious?"

"Uh, yeah! They don't celebrate Halloween where she comes from." Max made up a quick lie.

"Oh, well, allow me to explain it to you, my lovely." The cape wearing man grinned down at me.

"This isn't the time to be chit-chatting, we have work to do! Bip, bip, bip!" The man with the headset said.

"I'll call you later, Shadow. Okay?"

"Okay." I waved and left. Once I was a few feet away, they started talking about getting off of work early and toilet paper on the building.

At work, we got a load of chickens and a few cows to slaughter. There wasn't much to do, so the boss let us off work early and I decided to walk around town before heading back home. I went through China Town, sector 4, and kept walking until it was dark outside. I still had time to kill, so, I looked for something to do. All the people dressed as monsters were laughing and talking in the streets.

A bright big sign caught my attention, and I saw people going in and out of the building. It was some place called Crash.... I think I've heard Max and Original Cindy mention it a few times.

Before going in, I decided to try and fit in with the people this night. I pulled out my tail and lifted my hat up off my ears. It felt good to let fresh air hit my fur.

Inside Crash was a bar and pool tables. I went over to a table and sat down, watching the people come and go, talking, laughing, and drinking.

"Hey! You're that friend of Max's, aren't you?"A man sat across from me at the table. It was the guy that was wearing the cape from Jam Pony.

"Yeah." He gave me a smile.

"I don't think I caught your name, you can call me Sketchy." He held his hand out to me.

"Shadow." I shook his hand and he offered to get me a drink. "Sure." I replied and he went to the bar. He came back with two beers and handed one to me.

"Nice costume, what are you supposed to be?"

"An animal/human hybrid." I took a drink from the beer.

"Shadow! Wassup, girl? Sketchy, leave her alone, go bug someone else, someone your own species preferably." Original Cindy was standing next to me and talking to the man.

The rest of the night I spent drinking and talking with people who asked me about my 'costume' until they got weirded out and left me alone.


	8. Steelheads Smell

Silently getting off of my sleeping bag, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness since I had awoken to hearing the front door open and some footsteps that followed. Crouching down, I grabbed my hat and put it over my ears while cautiously going to the stairs. When I was halfway up, I felt my muscles relax when I heard who it was up there.

"Joshua?" Max called. Pulling off my hat, I stuffed it into my back pocket and went the rest of the way up the stairs.

"Hey, Max." She jumped, not expecting me to be there. Max looked surprised as well as confused.

"What are you doing here, Shadow?" She asked, calming down and letting her shoulders droop.

"I'm sleeping here for the night." I said.

"Why? What happened to your place?"

"It got torn down for wood and pipes that could be used in other locations. I'm not sure where, but I know it's various." I answered her and she nodded when I was done talking. With a sigh, she crossed her arms.

"Have you seen Joshua by the way?"

"No, I've been asleep since a little after I got here." Looking at her, I spoke with sincerity. "I seem to enjoy sleeping, I can do it more often than I have to, now." Max smiled.

"Yeah? Well, that's great to hear." She said. "Just out of curiosity, how often do you ' _need_ ' to sleep?" One of her brows raised.

"Approximately once a month- or once every four to five weeks." I replied. She nodded again and for a few hours after that, we just sat in the dark asking questions about each others' abilities. Apparently, Max was one of the chimeras that had shark DNA, so she didn't ever need sleep and I found that somewhat interesting. She wasn't the first with shark DNA I've encountered, but she was the first to have both fish and feline in her 'cocktail', as Max put it.

The next day, I went to visit Max and Original Cindy at Jam Pony. When I got there, I saw the man called Sketchy covered in bruises, dirt, and blood. My original objective was completely lost as I walked towards the human.

From my understanding, this man was a friend of Max's and Original Cindy's. His wounds were obviously not from an accident, but from someone's fist based upon their shape and coloration. Hold that, from the varied shapes and sizes of his bruises, there had to have been multiple people.

"Who did that?" I asked blankly and Sketchy turned around to glance down at me.

"What?"

"Who did that?" I repeated my question, and a half-smile formed on his face.

"Well, some Steelheads, why are you asking?" He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"I need to know who I am terminating. Who are these Steelheads?" Sketchy chuckled.

"Now I see why you and Max are friends, you got a sense of humor. I guess under that emotionless facade you got going on, you're a real comedian." He pointed at me. "You had me going there for a second." He then sighed. "Anyways, the Steelheads are some gang that's really into bio-mechanics and synthetic hormone stuff. Nasty group, they are." He shrugged. "I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I don't understand what you were saying- I don't joke. Where are these Steelheads?" I planned on taking down whoever it was that harmed Max's human friend. She was like an alpha to me, so this man's safety was of high importance to me, as was Original Cindy's. To tell the truth, I even patrolled the area around Original Cindy's home on nights I didn't sleep- which was most nights- and even caught a thief or two trying to sneak into the building.

"You're not kidding, are you....?" Sketchy slowly stood up.

"No."

"Shadow, no offense or anything, but if you go to the Steelheads with that sort of idea, you'll get hospitalized or worse." His face fell as he seemed to be reasoning with me.

"Kidding." I faked a smile while lying. ' _Fine, this man doesn't seem to want to tell me, so I'll just find them myself.'_ "I had you going there." I repeated what he had said earlier, assuming it was a saying that meant he had believed a lie. _'I'm going to kill these 'Steelheads', but first, I have to find them.'_ I thought while leaving Jam Pony.

"Shadow! Hey, wait!" Sketchy raised his voice, but I was already out of his range of sight.

By the time I had sniffed them out, it was already well into the afternoon. I saw them, well, three of them, and they were loading silver boxes into a truck. Their cargo smelled of human organs, which I assumed were for some sort of black market, and I could also smell Sketchy on the guys with metal parts sticking out of them.

Concealing a growl, I made my way past the people walking between the stalls set up in the market like area while keeping my attention on them even when a familiar chimera rode up on a bike.

" Maybe your friend didn't relay our message." A blond with spikes coming out of the ridge of his brow put his hands on his hips while looking at Alec. He spoke with an English accent, and I saw from the body language they displayed that the blond was the leader.

"Nobody around here sells Andy....but us." The dark skinned male with spikes on the top of his skull stated. There were blades coming out of the sides of his arms, and he stood much taller than anyone around.

"Yeah," Alec nodded while getting off his bike, and I had to dodge a man with a cart while still walking towards them. "see," Alec sighed while leaning the bike against a rack covered in chains. "there's a problem. I had a buyer who's willing to pay me five hundred dollars for that package-now he's upset because he didn't get his Andy, and I'm upset that I didn't get my cash," The smaller male in the trio was bouncing around in the back, looking at the male transgenic in front of them. "And you guys are upset because...." Alec shook his head while making a face. "Well, I'm not quite sure why you're upset, but you seem to be. So, what do you say you give me five hundred dollars, and I get out of here before anybody gets worse than they already are?"

The Steelheads were smirking, thinking lowly of Alec from how they didn't back down and instead stepped closer. They apparently had no idea who it was they were talking to. Either way, they were _my_ prey. The popcorn-tossing transgenic could shove his five hundred dollar offer up his ass for all I care, these guys would soon regret messing with Sketchy.

"I can't say much about this guy, but you three will end up much worse than what you are now." I said while finally reaching them. Looking right at the Steelheads, they were looking right back.

"And who are you?" The blond smirked.

"Phrasing this with words from popular culture, I am your reaper." A hand landed on my shoulder.

"Whoa, there, short-stuff. We're doing business here." I sent a glare in the directions of the transgenic and he raised his hands as if in surrender. "Hey, I don't know what your beef is with these guys, but you have to wait in line. I was here first."

"No, no, we'll deal with her first. I like the fire in her eyes." The blond man with piercings looked me up and down with a smirk. Cracking my knuckles, I stepped up as he squared his shoulders.

"Just so you know, I'm here on behalf of a friend of mine." I said while pulling back my arm.

"Hold on, would his name happen to be Sketchy?" Alec caught my arm.

"Maybe."

"Ah! Then we're here for the same reason." Alec pulled me back and rested an arm on my head. "So, how about you guys give me my five hundred, then you can get to business with my friend here?" He smiled while pointing to himself, and then to me.

"I'm not your friend." I said bluntly.

"What's a poofta like you need with five hundred bucks, anyway?" The blond looked up at Alec while putting his hands on his hips. Alec looked away, smiling as he licked his lips before facing the Steelhead.

"Actually, I need it for a ride on your mum." He mocked the English man's accent. The leader went to strike Alec, but a ringing made everyone stop. They all began to try and figure out who's phone it was until Alec pulled his out. "It's me." He said while flipping open his phone. "Excuse me, fellas." He smiled and answered the call. "Hello?"

"You cheeky bastard!" The blond guy said and threw a kick at the male transgenic. I caught him by the ankle just before his foot made contact with Alec and the Steelhead was surprised to say in the least.

"I told you, I'm your reaper." I growled as my face turned black, and the men were taken back by shock. Throwing up the blond's leg, I kicked his other foot out from beneath him, making him fall on the hard ground. The larger, dark male looked at his leader, then to me, and he seemed to make a quick decision just before he came at me.

Catching his large fist in my hand, I raised my leg and sent him flying back with a kick to his sternum and he stayed down due to the air being knocked out of his lungs. The blond was back up now, swinging his fists at me. I just had to lean back or to the side to dodge them, and spun to the side when he went to kick.

Having my hand open with a flat palm, I pushed with enough force against his back to make him fly towards Alec. Looking, I had actually forgotten the transgenic was there. He was still on the phone and raised a leg to make the blond run right into his foot before falling to the ground again.

The small, one armed male came with a war cry before jumping onto my back, he had me in a choke hold while trying to bring his knee into my ribs. Reaching behind me, I grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him over my shoulder and tossed him to the ground. Knocking him out after sending him onto a pile of miscellaneous junk, the big guy that had been winded was back on his feet now.

Fighting him was easy, but his arm span made it somewhat difficult to dodge and counter attack. Alec was still on the phone while he knocked out the blond, and I punched my opponent in the gut. Bringing my knee up, I broke the guy's nose, and he slumped to the ground, laying there unconscious.

Alec was jacking the money from their pockets, then gave me a thumbs up and mouthed the words 'Nice work' to me. I glared, growled, and gave the big guy a kick to put his limp body near his friends.

I didn't kill them like I had originally wanted to, but there were too many people around and Max had warned me about getting arrested. I'd have to wait until another time to finish the job....

Still wired and hyped up on adrenaline, I shoved my fists into my pockets after pulling my beanie lower over my face. I knew it was still black, so I decided to stick to the shadows while making my way towards a less populated area.

Later, I got a call from Max. Apparently, unknown to me, Max had gone out to chase down a transgenic that was killing cops. It turned out to be Joshua's brother, but some things had happened and Max was very brief explaining how she'd like me to stay at Joshua's place for a few more days. I agreed with her that Joshua shouldn't be alone, so I did as she had asked me to.

Going into Crash, I looked around and saw many different faces of the people who occupied the club. With my hands in my pockets, I walked to the bar and took a seat. Getting the bartender's attention, I asked for the drink Original Cindy had gotten for me last time I was here. It was a red-ish orange drink that I found quite tasty even with the burning sensation it left in my throat.

Next to me was a mostly bald woman with metal curls coming out of the top of her head like a pony-tail. She was playing with her drink while giving me a sideways glance. Narrowing my eyes, I saw a smirk on her lips. Turning back to my drink the bartender sat in front of me, I heard a familiar voice. Looking over, I saw the popcorn-throwing transgenic talking to the woman with the heavy scent of metal. I couldn't help but mentally groan since he was there.

But my face went completely blank when I heard the woman trying to get my attention. Turning towards her, I saw the dark make-up around her eyes and the three metal balls in a vertical line on her forehead. Alec saw who I was now that I had turned and there was recognition on his face.

"You know my friends, too." She smiled, and I noticed the metal spikes coming from her nails. My blank stare was directed towards her. She grabbed the front of my shirt while wrapping an arm around Alec. Curious as to what her intentions were, I let her pull me from my chair.

"Are you vibrating?" Alec asked her and I felt her fingers go under my hair as she drug her nails along the back of my neck. I didn't know what she was doing, but she was touching my barcode.

"We know what you two are." She whispered, and her nails scraped on the back of my neck, making it sting as she walked away calmly. Alec watched her go with a look of shock and fear while I narrowed my eyes and grabbed a napkin to stop the bleeding from her scratch. She licked the small drops of blood from her nails with a smirk before leaving.

_'Now I have another excuse to kill the Steelheads....'_ I thought while going back to my seat to finish my drink.


End file.
